Sleepy’s delivers customized sleep solutions designed to enhance customers’ quality of sleep—and their quality of life

by Bill Donahue

For a company whose business is intimately tied to people’s quietest and most peaceful moments, Sleepy’s - The Mattress Professionals is making some noise.

The company still offers the finest assortment of mattresses—some of the finest mattresses in the world, in fact—and related accessories, but consumers may soon realize a significant difference in the company's approach to spreading the word in how it can help enhance the quality of people’s lives.

Technically, yes, Sleepy’s sells mattresses and related accessories, but Sleepy’s chief marketing officer Jeff Lobb wants people in the Philadelphia suburbs to know that it really sells all the health benefits that a good night’s rest assures: a clearer mind, healthier heart, improved mood, etc. Furthermore, he wants people to know how much the sleep solutions offered by Sleepy’s have changed and, for that matter, continue to change.

“People should expect to see a lot more excitement in the industry relative to the past, and you can expect to see much more innovation from Sleepy’s—whether it’s the mattress itself, different types of pillows or something else,” says Lobb. “From a historical perspective, people would buy a mattress only when the old one wore out. But there have been a lot of innovations that have come along that enable people to sleep better and improve their life. Most people just don’t know about them.

“To use an example, everybody’s vacuum worked fine till Dyson came along,” he continues. “They may not need a new vacuum, but now they certainly want one. In terms of mattress innovations, manufacturers have the technology to offer ‘cool sleep’ if an individual tends to sleep hot. These are things that make people stop and say, ‘I need to get in and have a look at this.’ And they should.”

The Next Level
A private, family-owned company now in its fourth generation, Sleepy’s has more than 800 stores in 15 states, including 41 in the Philadelphia area. The company offers the broadest selection of products from the finest names in sleep—namely, Sealy, Simmons, Serta, Tempur-Pedic, Kingsdown and King Koil—in some cases, exclusively.

Lobb, who joined Sleepy’s relatively recently, is excited at the company’s growth and heritage. More so, he is thrilled about Sleepy’s potential to better serve customers’ needs. Prior to joining Sleepy’s earlier this year, he spent 18 years working in marketing for Pepsi in Canada and the United States, as well as three years as head of marketing for Walmart Canada.

“Sleepy’s is a big, successful and growing company, and that’s a great thing,” he says. “Ultimately we want to keep growing the business and, at the same time, understand how we become more grounded in the consumer. To do that, we have made a big commitment to understanding the role and importance of marketing. We believe we can leverage a lot of consumer insights and marketing-related work to get the company to the next level.”

The elements of Sleepy’s going-forward marketing strategy underscore the company’s unique strengths. Among them: an assortment advantage, with the most innovative products and accessories; superior service, from the pre-shop to the shopping experience to the post-shopping experience, long after the product has been delivered; to unbeatable prices achieved by optimizing pricing and promotion.

“We’re looking to excel at the customer experience, and our Mattress Professionals are essential to that,” Lobb says. “When I first started here, I was surprised to learn that each of our new sales associates—our Mattress Professionals—goes through a four-week training process. Our Mattress Professionals get to understand a customer’s needs and then match a mattress’ features and benefits to them.

“It’s a much more tailored approach than people might be used to, looking into whether a person and their partner are back sleepers, side sleepers, if they sleep the same way,” he continues. “People spend a quarter to third of their lives on a mattress, which is why we believe it’s so important for there to be a strong connection between a customer and a Mattress Professional.”

Sleepy’s is “stepping up our level of professionalism,” not only in its sales and marketing efforts but also in the ways it interacts with customers outside the store walls. This includes top-notch delivery because “we’re delivering to the most personal room in someone’s home,” says Lobb. Sleepy’s also maintains its Comfort Guarantee, which ensures that if a customer determines the mattress they have chosen is not right for them, they can trade it for something else till they have found the mattress to suit their needs and lifestyle.

“A mattress is a feature, and we want to be known as improving people’s lives through better sleep,” he says. “Our Mattress Professionals have the expertise to understand what’s best for customers and how the quality of sleep we can give them has direct health-related benefits. We’re going to make sure we are the leader in that area. We’re communicating to customers that there’s no other place to go for sleep expertise. That will be the biggest change in our advertising and elevating our game as it relates to improving people’s lives through sleep.

“But even the best advertising in the world won’t overcome a customer experience that isn’t the best. In retail, if the experience doesn’t live up to expectations, all the rest goes for naught. The whole experience needs to be great, and we won’t accept delivering anything less than that.”

Sleepy’s - The Mattress Professionals
Call 800-SLEEPYS (800-753-3797) or visit www.sleepys.com for store locations, specials, tips for a great night’s sleep and other valuable information.